Marines Responsible For Their Individual Records

The most effective career manager is the individual Marine

By Sgt. Donald Bohanneer, MARINE CORPS BASE QUANTICO, Va.

To that end, Marines need to be aware of how their careers are documented and need to understand the processes and systems that build and maintain their official records.

The official record for each Marine is the Official Military Personnel File. The agency responsible for the creation and management of the OMPF is the Personnel Management Support Branch at Quantico. The 150 or so Marines and civilian Marines at MMSB maintain about 4.6 million OMPFs – 565,000 digital OMPFs at Quantico and more than four million hard copy OMPFs at the National Personnel Records Center in St Louis. These OMPFs provide the personnel service history for the Marine Corps dating back to 1906.

Completing one of the courses at one of the Staff Noncommissioned Officer Academies is annotated on a Marine’s OMPF. The Career Course pictured here is a seven-week program aimed at enhancing staff sergeants’ professional qualifications in preparation for assuming duties of greater responsibility and for making a greater contribution to the Corps.

Photo by Staff Sgt. Bill Lisbon

“We are here to take care of the individual Marine and the Marine Corps as an institution,” said Bill Swarens, the head of MMSB.

The OMPFs managed by MMSB are used by HQMC for promotion, selection and assignment purposes. MMSB ensures that each record is available to support each of these processes. However, MMSB’s priority is the 105,000 OMPFs of the Corps’ active and reserve sergeants and above. It is from this group that records are sent to the 80 annual selection and promotion boards.

That can be a huge task. For the April gunnery sergeant board alone, MMSB Marines provided 7,761 staff sergeant OMPFs and master brief sheets, said Swarens.

Official Military Personnel File

All Marines, whether officer or enlisted, have an OMPF. Its contents directly support promotion and selection boards, permanent change of station assignments and are the catalyst for determining the career track of each Marine. The OMPF also serves as the primary historical record of every Marine’s military service and is permanently stored at a federal records center once a Marine is no longer actively affiliated with the Corps.

MMSB maintains the OMPFs in a database that stores digital images of documents relating to a Marine’s career. These documents include fitness reports, personal awards, school completion certificates, enlistment contracts, professional military education, field record pages and completed Marine Corps Institute courses. This digital information, including the Master Brief Sheet, is provided to monitors, career counselors and any romotion or selection board.

OMPFs By the Numbers:

4,000,000 – OMPFs are maintained at the National Personnel Records Center in St. Louis.

571,000 – OMPFs are maintained by MMSB at Quantico.

200,000 – Fitness reports are processed through MMSB-30 annually.

105,000 – Records are maintained by MMSB for active and reserve sergeants and above.

1906 – The starting year of records archived at NPRC.

97 – Percent of A-PES reports are accurate and can be processed in 48 hours.

50 – Percent of paper PES reports have some type of error that delays processing.

12 – Months before a board convenes, Marines should review their OMPF.

Checking Your OMPF

To request copies of your OMPF: Mail: Headquarters Marine Corps
Personnel Management Support Branch (MMSB-10)
2008 Elliot Rd.
Quantico, VA 22134-5030
Email:
mmsbompf@manpower
.usmc.mil
Fax: commercial 703-784-5792, or DSN 278-5792

To submit changes to your OMPF: Mail: Headquarters U.S. Marine Corps
Personnel Management Support Branch (MMSB-20)
2008 Elliot Road
Quantico, VA 22134-5030
Fax: Commercial 703-784-5682 or DSN 278-5682

However, the documentation in an OMPF is only as accurate as the information provided to MMSB. MMSB ensures the information it receives is placed in the correct record, but it’s the individual Marine’s responsibility to ensure the information submitted is correct.

The most common and most critical mistake Marines make is failing to check and update their records, according to records management personnel.

“Due to the nature of its use, I cannot overstress the importance of maintaining an accurate OMPF,” said Maj. Todd Ford, head of MMSB-20, the Records Management Section. “You are responsible for the content and overall management of your record. You should periodically review your record to ensure its accuracy, especially if you are within 12 months of a promotion or selection board.”

Upon request, Marines are given copies of their OMPF and receive their information on a compact disc that allows them to view their official records.

If a change or addition to the OMPF is required, Marines may submit update material as well. Copies, changes or additions to records can be requested by visiting MMSB or by fax or mail. (See Checking Your OMPF.).

Checking Your OMPF is About to Get a Lot Easier

Marines will be able to access their OMPF via Marine Online by the end of the summer, according to Ford. Marines will not be able to make changes to the OMPF online, but they will have the ability to check its contents at their own discretion.

The link for OMPF OnLine will be under the ‘Personal Information’ or the ‘A Few Good Links’ tabs on Marine Online. Marines will see the same information online that they would see if they ordered the CD or visited MMSB personally. Plus, they will be able to access it much quicker and more conveniently, said Ford.

“If you have a computer with Internet access, you will be able to get to your record,” said Ford. “This is a great step forward in allowing Marines to become more active in their career management.”

Story continued on Page 2 »